night. It was from
her mother that she had inherited the passion for public service. The
Marchioness of Lechford had been the cause of more philanthropic work
in others than any woman in the whole history of philanthropy. Lady
Lechford had said, "Let there be Lechford Hospitals in France,"
and lo! there were Lechford Hospitals in France. When troublesome
complications arose Lady Lechford had, with true self-effacement,
surrendered the establishments to a thoroughly competent committee,
and while retaining a seat on the committee for herself and another
for Queenie, had curved tirelessly away to the inauguration of fresh
and more exciting schemes.

"Mamma was very sorry she couldn't come this afternoon," said Lady
Queenie, addressing the chairman.

The formula of those with authority in deciding now became:

"I don't know exactly what Lady Lechford's view is, but I venture to
think--"

Then suddenly the demeanour of every member of the committee was
quickened, everybody listened intently to everything that was said;
a couple of members would speak together; pattern-designing and the
manufacture of paper ships, chains, and flowers ceased; it was as
though a tonic had been mysteriously administered to each individual
in the enervating room. The cause of the change was a recommendation
from the hospitals management sub-committee that it be an instruction
to the new matron of the smaller hospital to forbid any nurse and
any doctor to go out alone together in the evening. Scandal was
insinuated; nothing really wrong, but a bad impression produced
upon the civilians of the tiny town, who could not be expected to
understand the holy innocence which underlies the superficial
license of Anglo-Saxon manners. The personal characters and strange
idiosyncrasies of every doctor and every nurse were discussed; broad
principles of conduct were enunciated, together with the advantages
and disadvantages of those opposite poles, discipline and freedom. The
argument continually expanded, branching forth like the timber of
a great oak-tree from the trunk, and the minds of the committee
ran about the tree like monkeys. The interest was endless. A
quiet delegate who had just returned from a visit to the tiny town
completely blasted one part of the argument by asserting that the
hospital bore a blameless reputation among the citizens; but new
arguments were instantly constructed by the adherents of the idea of
discipline. The committee ha